Rise of Cockroach, Descent of Man
by onlytomriddle
Summary: Johnny's feeling inferior. ONESHOT


**Author's Note:** This was written to KoRn's "I'm Hiding". And my hands and feet were very cooold.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters. They are Jhonen's problem, not mine.

swish

The stars were out in all the glory an earthbound creature could perceive. Too many times they were ignored, or even foolishly regarded as a simple back-drop for a pleasant evening. As always, Johnny knew better. He had always felt distinctly the kind of desolation a good view at the night sky could give. He would never leave his home planet's thin chains but mentally. That night he was sprawled out like a starfish on his rooftop, right in the middle of the helicopter landing circle he had painted years ago in hope of a rescue from his sorry city. But there was no humidity right then, and that was nice. The cool breeze was nice too, but NNY hardly knew it was there. The spikes of his hair fanned like the tops of trees and parts of his shirt were quivering, but as usual, he was entirely detached from himself. One might even wonder if his body was real, since it needed no food or sleep to keep reflecting photons. Sometimes he really did feel as empty as a hologram. But that night he found himself in the stars. There were so many just in the earth's viewpoint, and certainly many more beyond. If his soul couldn't belong in Heaven or Hell, maybe it was supposed to be somewhere out in the real Heavens, but simply stuck on a planet called Hell. What were the odds? Why was he on Earth, then? The stars turned slighly blurry as he remembered the answer: evolution. Or Devolution, as he was obligated to like calling it. Humans had gone too far. Why couldn't they just stay put as the ancestors of insects? No, they had to develop complex emotions and a need to destroy. His palms had been fully spread out to keep from falling up, but then they contracted into fists of indignation. He was sub-insect.

The deep purple sky had to be mocking him. It was perfect in its soft twinkles, and there he was, _wishing_ he could be so fine. Fine… dark and light. This was the same sky as the one overhead on his date with Devi… He put her from his mind. A gentle tingling started on his left index finger, and it brought him back to his roof. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked down at his hand.

"Mr. Samsa, how did you get up here?"

Mr. Samsa had come up to mock him, as the sky came down. They were drowning him in laughter. They screeched and howled, like panthers on E. His pathetic race. His sad little musings. One might say he was grimacing, but he was really smiling. It was the kind of eery grin that he adopted from Mr. Fuck after so long. He agreed. Stars, insects… Johnny? Nope. He was the obligatory black chick in the League of Overwhelming Truth. He was just there to be the butt of corporate racist jokes. The insects had their strength of numbers, and in the case of cockroaches, invincibility; the sky had its size and constant threat of asteroids; what did Johnny have? He was just there. But he understood. He still got paid for doing the LoOT shows, even if the contract did require him to sign his life away. The ever-present jokes in his script were backwards and unsettling. O so backwards.

It was a shame the human race had to evolve backwards.

He let Mr. Samsa crawl all over his hand, far beyond the impulse to shake him off. This was someone real, someone better than all the people combined, yet he was nothing special within his own kind. It was the least he could do for him. Maintaining his twisted smile, he put his hand back down and looked up at the sky again. After a minute or so, Mr. Samsa skittered off to better things, and left only a residual tickle from his feet. After that he resumed his starfish pose.

The smile vanished when he heard a soft "clink" from somewhere behind him. NNY turned over on his stomach and did a push-up to raise his view. There was just enough light pollution to detect a small child with a crowbar on the slanted roof of 779.

"Squeegee, is that you?"

The child nodded, suddenly shaking and moving backward to disappear behind the roof's middle ridge. There was a faint "Squee!"

"Do you feel complex emotions?"

Squee stopped moving at the question, though he did shiver a little. The crowbar was held close to his chest, and he looked down at it as he answered.

"Sometimes."

Johnny narrowed his eyes and got up to jump off the front part of his roof. He bent his knees when he landed on his feet, forgetting to acknowledge the buckling pain in his knees. Then he turned around and opened his front door. He decided to go to the store for his next Band-Aid. The door slammed shut behind him, and only the stars knew why.

swish

**Author's Note: **Review or die.


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